Police investigate Halloween slaying

Friday

Nov 1, 2013 at 12:01 AM

STOCKTON - Veronica Rodriguez stood outside her south Stockton home watching with tears in her eyes as police officers and homicide detectives converged on her street Thursday for the second time in less than a year.

Jason Anderson

STOCKTON - Veronica Rodriguez stood outside her south Stockton home watching with tears in her eyes as police officers and homicide detectives converged on her street Thursday for the second time in less than a year.

Last time the victim was her son. This time it was someone on the other side of the street in a house she said was occupied by a man, a woman and their two children.

Officers responded to a report of an unknown disturbance at 3:16 p.m. in the 1000 block of South American Street just south of East Anderson Street, police said. When they arrived, they found a 38-year-old man dead inside a residence, said Officer Joe Silva, a spokesman for the Stockton Police Department.

The victim's sport utility vehicle was missing and there were obvious signs of foul play inside the home. The victim's vehicle was later located somewhere outside Stockton in San Joaquin County, Silva said.

Police did not release the cause of death Thursday, and detectives were still trying to determine the motive for the killing, Silva said.

"Our investigators are talking to people in the neighborhood to determine if someone might have seen something," Silva said. "Historically, this area has been known as a high-crime neighborhood with a lot of gang activity."

This is the 27th homicide Stockton police have investigated this year.

The homicide occurred less than 100 yards from the corner of South American and East Anderson streets, where two men were shot in November 2012. One of those men, 19-year-old Victor Ibanez, died as a result of his injuries.

His mother still mourns his death. "It's so close, it's crazy," Rodriguez said. "It's sad, real sad, and it brings back a lot of memories. You always think it will happen somewhere else. You never think it will hit so close to home."